


So Beloved

by thevoidsomens



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Angst, Blood and Gore, Choking, Existential Crisis, F/M, Rape/Non-con Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-28
Updated: 2020-09-29
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:47:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 5
Words: 16,250
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26157517
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thevoidsomens/pseuds/thevoidsomens
Summary: What was to be their final duel, a contest of might for only the two of them to share, the Warrior of Light is brought down by an unknown assailant, and Zenos is left to pick up the pieces._Takes place after ShadowBringers 5.3
Relationships: Zenos yae Galvus/Warrior of Light
Comments: 19
Kudos: 91





	1. Remember Me

The war continued. As news of the Emperor's death spread, the Eorzean Alliance decided to strike a heavy blow to the opposing faction's ranks. The Garleans held the line steadfast, but what they did not know was that Eorzea’s Champion would soon step onto the battlefield. Having just been brought home, the Scions of the Seventh Dawn were called to action, leaving their Warrior of Light without a moment of respite. Once again all would ask their champion to rise to the challenge, and once again she would happily accept her role, telling her friends, her allies, that they could always count on her to the bitter end.

Oh, how noble is she?

Though her boots were caked with mud as the rain drenched her to the bone, she ran headlong onto the battlefield. She was surrounded on all sides by fire and lightning, by friends and foe, and yet she felt the freeing yet intimate sensation of the star’s very aether coiling around her, guiding her path, protecting her way. At times she didn’t even know if dredging forward took her to where she needed to be; nonetheless she would continue on, the only feeling that it was right, this was indeed the correct path.

A fate she was honored to follow.

She trudged onward, her closest allies by her side. Charging onto the rain slick front lines, as the torrent waters mixed with mud and blood and oil. Their path lit by gun fire and destructive arcana. Their ears rang with the cacophony of screams and hails of bullets as soldiers were felled and magitech burst into shrapnel.

War was such a terrible thing.

She was accustomed to such carnage, to the smell and the sight and the sounds of war. Gunpowder would cling like static in her throat, her weapon heavy in her hands, her destiny a straight line laid before her as she left bodies in her wake, one bloodied footprint after another.

She ran further and further into enemy lines with her allies, her friends. With each assault, each new challenge, she adapted to whatever the Garlean forces could throw at her. She shielded her allies from artillery fire as their enemies closed the gap. She crashed into squadrons to break their ranks. She called upon the earth and spirits to heal each comrade at their most dire. She became the Alliance’s perfect weapon, the perfect answer for any who would oppose them. She was never satisfied with herself, and always willing to go to whatever lengths she needed to help protect all those that she held dear. She had already lost so many. She could’ve been stronger, faster, better, then perhaps she wouldn’t have had to say goodbye so soon and so often.

One by one her comrades broke off to assist, to fight, to mend. They bid their well wishes and confidence towards their hero, their Warrior of Light as they urged her to keep moving forward. Keep on fighting. The silent plea to please bring peace to our world always in the undercurrent of their words.

It was her duty. It was her sacrifice.

She summoned her bow to her side, running faster, freer. Her rain of arrows camouflaged by the storm, slaughtering her enemies one after the other. She would not falter. She could not. She had to fight on, no matter how much blood poured like a fountain from her hands, she will bring peace to this world.

After what felt like malms and malms of a full sprint, she finally came to a stop. Her breathing was even, and tempered. Her muscles twitched as her eyes scanned her immediate area. She felt the calming presence of the star’s aether, swirling in the air, keeping her rooted to the spot. This is indeed where she needed to be. She could feel it, but…

Why was there no one else around?

“My dearest prey. You’ve finally arrived.”

She knew this voice, was quite acquainted with it’s timbre and bravado. How it managed to reverberate through her, piercing her with dark promises she knew he would keep. Nothing ever seemed to make him happier than this little game of theirs, a game far deadlier than anything she had ever had to play before.

She turned to him, her demeanor that of cold indifference. Her eyes calculating. She knew he wanted her ire, her rage, her impassioned spirit. It moved him in a way she did not understand. Exciting him, provoking him like a rampaging boar that stampeded a path of destruction a continent long. He was still drunk from their previous clash where he himself had bid her to vanquish him as Shinryu.

And who was she, the Eikon Slayer, to deny him?

“Have you naught to say to an old friend? Or has my presence rendered you speechless?” He teased. His amused smile grated her, but she remained stoic, not allowing him an ilm of satisfaction.

She casually nocked an arrow, drawing back the string, aiming straight for the Garlean Prince’s heart. He wanted to play did he? She’ll certainly oblige him.

“Ah, yes. There is the feral beast I’ve come to know. Gnashing her teeth like the wild animal she is. Exquisite.” He gave a sigh of contentment, relief that she was still as feral and tameless as when they last fought. He spread his arms wide, inviting her onslaught as he grinned wildly, allowing his laughter to fill the empty space between them. “Come at me then, Warrior of Light. Let me see how much you’ve grown in my absence.”

At his behest she fired her arrow, knowing full well he would deftly knock it aside before assailing her. Relentless and formidable was what best described Zenos yae Galvus.

She met him blow for blow, dodging and weaving through his more devastating strikes. She parried his cleaving sword before jumping back to fire at him again and again, never losing tandem in her songs as her very own bow strings sang to her. Pulsing pain rang through her arms and hands from the force of his sheer might. Zenos was truly an unstoppable force. Yet even as she danced at the edge of his blade, as the elements seemed to go against her, she could not help but enjoy herself, for there were so very few to whom she could truly say was her equal.

Between his strikes and overwhelming strength, she managed to catch him off guard as her crescendo blasted him with a force powerful enough to drive him yalms back. His feet skid atop the rock and sand before he used his sword to catch himself, digging the blade deep into the stone beneath to halt his sudden retreat.

His heart fluttered as delight and revelry suffused every nerve bringing a smile to his face.

His laugh echoed, impressed that she had managed to push him back. “Oh, yes. You have grown, little warrior. I dare say the Eikon Slayer who felled the mighty Shinryu pales in comparison to what you are now. Such monstrous strength, such- raw, unbridled power. The wait was well worth it.” His posture was relaxed, unperturbed. He acted as if he wasn’t just trading blows with the Warrior of Light and Darkness herself.

It annoyed her.

“I thought I’d never be able to experience this… feeling again, but how could one such as yourself disappoint? You never fail to surpass my expectations.” He easily pulled his sword from the rocky ground, pointing it at his beloved prey. “Come, my friend. Let us finally finish our dance. Allow me the pleasure of carving the last few moments of your life into my memories. Bittersweet though your death would be, I will cherish the look on your face as your light is finally snuffed out.”

She lowered her weapon, her face was one of utter confusion before scrunching into an amused smile. Her quiet giggles just barely noticeable over the rain and distant, long forgotten carnage of the battlefield.

“Sorry. I don’t mean to laugh,” She began. It was the first time she had spoken to him so casually. It was different to say the least. He could only remember her previous words dipped in contempt and anger, not of red hot fire, but of still born ice. What her tone held now was nothing of the sort; not a trace of that chill escaped her lips. It was sweetly somber, mournful even. She continued, “It’s just… funny, in a way, but I can see the irony is lost on you.” Her smile faded to be replaced with a thousand yalm stare. She couldn’t bring herself to look his way, her thoughts scattered. “Do… do you know what happens once a Warrior of Light dies, Zenos?”

It was a question he was not entirely prepared for, nor was he sure of what she was implying. He showed his displeasure at postponing their fight with a frown before answering, humoring her as it was so rare to hear her speak freely. “No. I can’t say I’m familiar.”

“I can’t blame you for not knowing. It’s not something anyone talks about.” She turned away, her bow gently cradled in her hands, nearly slipping to the cold wet ground as her grip began to forget its presence. “Everyone will forget me once I’m gone. No one will be able to recall my face. No one will remember my name. They will never again know how I spoke, or how I walked. They won’t even remember the color of my hair or know me as a woman. No one will know me anymore. Every friend, every person that I help, every enemy that I meet, will all forget me.” She took in a long deep breath. She steadied her breathing though tears began to pool at the corners of her eyes. She did not wish to choke on her words. She would not cry. Not now. Not in front of Zenos of all people.

“When I die, my very existence will be wiped clean from all those who ever knew me, just like every Warrior of Light before me, and every Warrior of Light who is unfortunate enough to come after. All we'll ever be is a vision of light, too beloved in this world to be remembered because that memory will only bring unequivocal pain.” Tears spilled over at the thought as she looked to the thunderous sky. It mirrored her emotions, tumultuous and dark. She turned back to him. “So if you do kill me, Zenos, you will only be blinded by my light in your memories. There won’t be a face to remember or to- cherish. You too will be wiped clean.”

The grip on her bow tightened once more before she summoned her cane to replace it, wishing to end their fight as she was when they first met. She turned back to him, cane in hand, donning a healer’s robes. She smiled brightly, though the stain of her tears still adorned her cheeks; the rain never able to fully wash the pain away. She laughed nervously, embarrassed by her display. “I’m sorry. You must think me so foolish. Crying like a baby right in front of you. So let's go back to hitting each other. That’ll make me feel better, don’t you think?” She smiled through the pain of longing to be remembered.

She could hear Emet-Selch’s voice within her thoughts. _“Remember us. Remember that we lived.”_

She fully understood the weight of those words and just how important it was to simply be known; to simply be remembered for who they were, for what they were.

She felt this sentiment deeply in her soul. She wanted for herself what Emet-Selch had wanted for his people. _“Remember me. Remember that I lived.”_

Such a terrible, selfish desire, but one she wished for all the same. But this was her fate. The path before her had been set in stone and drenched in blood by those long gone, but not forgotten, not by her. As long as she could draw breath, she would remember them. All of them, she will remember all those that once lived, and she will ensure a future for those who will soon forget her name. Such is the burden of the Warrior of Light. Such is the sacrifice she is more than willing to make.

Zenos looked down upon the tiny Au’Ra female that had dared stand against him in Ala Mhigo. He fully took in her countenance, still seeing a mere savage before him, a terrible little beast fit for sport. His sport. Her dark scales contrasting with her pale blue skin that reminded him of a frozen corpse. Her horns curved delicately forward like the gore horns of a bull, the tips sharp enough to maim. Her long silver hair hung in a damp mess, clinging to her face and neck. She was akin to a wild animal in his eyes, uncivilized and feral. What other than a beast would need of horns, and scales, and fangs?

What intrigued him most, however, were her eyes. Pupil-less and white, as if her very blessing of light was pouring out from the only open window her soul could reach. The tears that clouded them earlier had gone, showing only the cold calculated gaze of a warrior. Zenos could see the calm that washed over her as she prepared once more for their duel. He could see the killing intent deep within those crystal eyes.

How it moved him.

How it thrilled him.

But her words weighed heavy in his mind. How could he not know her? How could he ever forget his one and only friend? She is all he lived and breathed for, their game was all he had to look forward to in this world. He wanted the two of them to strike as if to cripple the other, to fight til their bodies failed them, til death would they part. He brushed her words away as savage nonsense, a story to tell to those who were left behind.

He refuses to forget.

The Garlean prince brought his sword to mark his stance just as the Warrior of Light drew massive amounts of aether into her body. Zenos charged forward, and Eorzea’s champion saturated the air around her with blinding holy light. Survival was the only thing on her mind, and to do that she would have to kill Zenos for good this time. He won’t be coming back, she’ll make sure of it. She’ll rip the very resonant from his eyeballs if she has to. This war had to end, and this rabid dog had to be put down.

The moment Zenos reached her, the moment her aether spilled forth, a single shot tore through her shoulder.

She dropped her weapon to the ground, her mouth agape but unable to scream as white hot pain coursed through her veins, tearing at her flesh and joints and bones and even the very aether that she had collected. She fell forward as arches of sickly purple levin pulsed from her flesh. She could not breathe or think, she could only feel pain. She desperately wanted to vomit, but her insides failed to react.

The moment Zenos was within reach, she fell forward into his arms. He had to take a knee to catch her, she was so small. Even knelt down, he towered over her. For a moment he didn’t understand what had just happened. To him she simply collapsed, until she finally managed to cough up blood. He soon noticed the clashing swirls of elemental aether surround her, even nipping at him as his skin made contact with hers.

Who did this?

His eyes scanned their immediate vicinity, but they found not a single soul, not a trace of who could have been responsible. His attention was brought back to her as she convulsed, breathless, wordless. Blood dripped from the corner of her mouth and oozed from the exit wound in her right shoulder, staining her once pure garments a hideously dark shade of red. Zenos’s heart hammered in his ears, his gut twisted as bile rose up in his throat.

What was this feeling? Not rage,no, it was not anything he deemed to be familiar. It gripped him tightly in his breast, he could feel it coiling around his heart. He… he didn’t know how to describe it. More importantly, he didn’t know what to do.

In her fit of panic and pain, she had grabbed hold of his shirt, wanting anything to help ground her to this world as what felt like molten rocks were being jostled inside her skin. She hurt so badly she wanted to peel the very flesh from her bones. She wanted to cut and tear until there was no more sinew to feel such unimaginable suffering. She felt hot tears pouring from her eyes as her mind called out to her mother, to help take the pain away.

Is she dying?

Zenos was at a loss for words or action as he watched his one and only friend begin to die a sudden and excruciatingly painful death. His mind ran a malm a minute as he tried to figure out what he should do. He was no healer, no chirurgeon. His hands were made for destruction only, unlike her as she could mend whatever was broken.

He stared in disbelief as the light within her crystal like eyes slowly started to fade, and in turn, she too was fading, but not in the way of death, no. As her soul began to leave her, as her body was failing her, he… he could not see her face. Pure white light danced at the edges of his vision as it reached for her silhouette, drawing her unrecognizable even as he gazed at her. It was blinding him to her. Erasing her.

_“You too shall be wiped clean.”_

No.

No! He would not abide by such a damned-able fate. Zenos yae Galvus does not kneel to the whims of gods. He will not be bested by the likes of which he deems unworthy of worship or praise. His prey, his dearest friend will not die here. Not like this. Not until the hunt is done. Not until this Warrior of Light knows to whom her very soul belongs to.

At that, he easily brought her into his arms, cradling her more like a sack than a person, before carrying her away.


	2. Not a Drop to Drink

Where was she?

Eorzea’s champion had finally managed to open her eyes. She wanted to make out the shapes and colors surrounding her, but her head pounded even in the dim lighting of the… room? Squeezing them shut, she realized she was floating. She tried to open her eyes again, trying to blink through the pain and what she could only describe as crinkly green water. It was too blurry, it hurt far too much. Her heart raced as she raised her arms to try and find some purchase she could hold onto, but she was surrounded on all sides by water.

She began flailing, now feeling the giant tube filling her throat, pumping oxygen into her lungs. Oxygen she didn’t need, didn’t want, she just needed a way out, it was too dark. It was too cold. She wanted out. Where was she? How did she get here?

She managed to float her way to the front glass of her liquid prison. She tried pounding on it, to break the glass, to get her out, but the sickeningly green water prevented her from striking hard enough. Desperate to get out, she put her back to the wall and began kicking at the glass with whatever strength she had left. She heard a dull crack reach her ears, it drove her to keep kicking more and more until finally she spilled out onto cold metal ground.

She gagged, wrenching the thick tube out of her mouth. It felt like it went on forever as more and more of it coiled to the ground in a hollow wet slump. She gulped in as much fresh air as she could, green water dripping from her hair. She was freezing as the crinkly water began to dry on her bare skin. It was somehow both sticky and slick, it would not come off no matter how much she tried to rub or scrape, making her notice that she was completely naked. She reached up with her right hand to find something to hoist herself up with, but was stricken with a lightning bolt of pain the moment she lifted her arm. She cried out, her voice hoarse and quiet, as if she hadn’t spoken in months.

What happened?

She looked around, hoping she was somewhere she could recognize, somewhere safe, but the more she looked, the more she knew she was in a lot of trouble. The high metal walls and grates and magitech filled room gave it away. She was in a Castrum. She couldn’t really distinguish one from another just by the interior. They all looked so much the same, but she was sure she had never been to this one before. Completely certain of it in fact.

She once again tried to pick herself up off the floor, this time cradling her useless right arm as her thin spiked tail curled around her leg, wanting some semblance of warmth as she trembled in place. She could scantily remember what had transpired. The battlefield. Zenos. Then pain. So much pain. Her stomach twisted at the memory. Nearly becoming a light warden was far more pleasant in her opinion. The moment she got to her feet, the dizziness faded quickly, she heard the familiar scraping of metal and gears as a door opened.

“Oh good! You’re awake! And you made a terrible mess.” The new stranger scoffed. “Of course you did, all you savages are so completely uncivilized.” The woman tsked as she walked over to the Warrior of Light. “But don’t worry, Lord Zenos himself tasked me to look after you, and per his orders I will make you right as rain!” The strange woman approached her, syringe in hand, a wild grin on her face as her goggles hid her eyes.

As anyone who’s anyone knows, the Eikon Slayer does not go down that easy. She grabbed a nearby metal cart with her usable hand, swinging it in a whirl before whipping it towards the stranger. The contents shot out making the Garlean woman shield herself allowing said savage to make an escape. She ran to the door, relieved to see it remained open. However just as she got there, she ran into none other than Zenos yae Galvus.

She was promptly grabbed by her throat and slammed against the nearest wall, her legs dangled in the air. She kicked and fought, but her legs were too short to reach him. She held on tight with her left hand, digging her nails into his wrist as she did her best to wriggle free. She tried conjuring the aether around her, tried summoning a weapon, a shield, anything to aid her.

Hot searing pain shot from her shoulder all throughout her body. Sparks of levin danced across her skin as molten rocks rattled inside of her. That same desperate need to peel the skin from her bones came rushing back to her, but this time she was able to slash and claw the root of the problem. She couldn’t even feel the blood rolling down her limp arm as she dug and dug, determined to gain any amount of relief. She couldn’t even scream due to the hand clutching tight around her neck.

Zenos frowned, but was more or less unperturbed by her erratic behavior. She was, by all rights, a cornered animal. He grabbed her bloodied hand, pinning it to the wall as well. His quarry was already quite damaged from the initial blow of the mysterious weapon, he didn’t need her ruining what was left of her pretty pelt.

“Matthias, if you would.” He glanced at the tall, squirrly woman behind him.

“What, sir?” She asked, finding the Eorzean woman to be utterly fascinating that she couldn’t even register the legatus’s orders. “OH! Oh, yes!” The now named Matthias woman prepared the syringe once more, the contents a blue liquid.

The Warrior of Light, though afflicted with intense burning agony, managed to kick the syringe from Matthias’s hand as she approached. Whatever was in it, she would not take. She had no idea what they had planned, or why she was here. For all she knew Zenos wanted to experiment more with the echo, just as he did with Krile. Why else would he stop their “long awaited duel”? Crazy effin’ sod!

Zenos rolled his eyes at the incompetence. Did he really have to do everything around here? Matthias pulled out another syringe, but Zenos grabbed it from her hand, stabbing it into his friend’s limp arm, causing her to spasm before the entire use of her body left her. She was dangling helplessly by her throat. She was breathing steadily, her eyes bleary and unfocused.

“You said she would still be conscious?” Zenos asked.

“Oh, yes! Yes, indeed! The serum simply stops the pain receptors from acting and paralyzes the body so that she can’t hurt herself by flailing about like a dodo with its head cut off. Pain is a very important part of bodily function, you know, and without it we would tear our own bodies to pieces without even realizing it. Did you know that when we are electrocuted, our -”

“Enough. Leave us.”

“Uh… y-yes, of course, your Grace.” Matthias gave an imperial salute before taking her leave, giddy with her new found specimen.

Zenos brought the wet naked form of the Warrior of Light into his arms, not entirely certain of what to do. She was cold to the touch, her lips bluer than normal. How did such a tiny slip of a woman become his only equal, his greatest hunt? How right he was to keep her alive, but was he right in saving her life? What exactly did he hope to gain? Another fight? How long would that take? She’s been unconscious for weeks, and it was only now that she had shown any signs of life. And even with a useless dominant hand, she is still willing to brawl to her very last breath. It’d bring a smile to his face if he hadn’t felt so confused.

He wanted to kill her, wanted to be drenched in their blood, wanted to bask in the afterglow of a battle well fought, have her fading away in his arms as she breathed her last breath, what a wonderful, beautiful dream. The very thought made him feel alive, and it was something he never wanted to stop feeling, but…

She shivered in his arms, the sudden vibration snapping him from his daydream. His eyes roamed her face, her eyes were still unfocused. He felt her skin was sticky with the drying water. He walked with her to draw a bath. If he’s going to keep her like a stray cat, he might as well take care of her. Besides, he really didn’t have anything else better to do.

_____

The water was so warm. Instantly the Warrior if Light felt so much better, so much lighter. She couldn’t remember the last time she had taken a nice hot bath. The green sticky sludge from the vat dissipated almost instantly. The slight incline of the sides of the tub had her resting easy as the water soothed her aches and pains. The moment would’ve been perfect if she could only move for one, and two be alone. Present company was neither needed, nor wanted.

Zenos simply perched himself on the side of the tub, gazing at her form with disinterest. She looked to be half asleep, her head lolling to the side, her light lashes dusting her cheeks. The long strands of silver hair took on a slight tinge of green from the vat chemicals. He supposed he would have to wash that off, dress her, feed her. What a curious thing to have to take care of another living creature. He’s never really had to take that much care of himself, to be perfectly honest. There was always a lackey, a maid, a slave to take care of whatever everyday needs he required.

He took a silver pitcher from a nearby stand and filled it with water before pouring it over her head. The green vat liquid still clung to her hair and scales. How bothersome. He grabbed a cloth to clean her with, dousing her hair in whatever oils he could reach, not really caring if he was supposed to put it in her hair or not. Once he was satisfied that all of the green was out, he nonchalantly poured another pitcher full of water over her head.

That was good enough, right?

He’s never had a pet. He could never keep anything alive long enough to warrant their care. He hunted anything and everything for sport, and discarded all the rest. What use did he have for things that did nothing for him? And that of course included people. However, his prey, his friend, was different. She amused him, made something flutter in his chest when he thought her near. Anticipation was the perfect word to describe that feeling. It was as if his mouth watered at the chance to kill or be killed by her. Nothing else slaked his thirst like violence for violence’s sake. Not food, not women, even breathing seemed so tedious a task.

Speaking of which, he had just noticed her slip beneath the surface of the water. How long had she been down there? With the paralytic still in her veins, she wouldn’t be able to save herself from drowning. He grabbed her by the top of her now clean hair and pulled her out of the water. He noticed she didn’t sputter or try to refill whatever oxygen was lost. She must not have been under for too terribly long then.

“What am I to do with you?” He asked, knowing she couldn’t answer.

He hated that she looked so pitiful, so weak. She was utterly helpless in his care, he could do anything he wanted to her and she wouldn’t be able to lift a finger to stop him. It annoyed him. He wanted the piercing gaze of that hunter in the dark. He wanted the sharpened claws and fangs of the beast he’s tracked. That flutter of anticipation was nowhere to be found here. He had already waited so long, and he was growing impatient by the day. When will she be well again? Could she ever fight again?

Why did he save her?

He kept coming back to that question. The short answer? He wanted to kill her himself. But the long answer? He just didn’t know. He knew there was something more, something deep within himself he could not pinpoint. Of course he wants the Warrior of Light as his latest trophy, he had always imagined taking her horns as a prize to gaze upon when he wished to remember her, but perhaps that was the problem. He wouldn’t remember her.

He knows that now.

His own vision failed him as she began to fade away. He could feel remnants of their past exchanges become muddy and fragmented. Pieces were missing already. He used to be so familiar with a time when he could account for their rivalry blow for blow, but since that day she fell, he could barely recall how she defeated him as Shinryu. He can’t remember the look of determination on her face, or the way her glare warned him of her ever boundless potential. He can no longer bring back the scene of when they first met. It was like she had become a ghost within his very memories. Not even his resonant could see past that vision of light.

It unnerved him.

He picked her up, allowing the water to drip from her and onto him. He didn’t bother getting a towel, she’ll dry off eventually. She looked up at him then as her head rested against his shoulder. She whispered something he couldn’t hear. Zenos hoisted her higher, leaning in to hopefully catch what she had said.

She whispered again. Water is what he thinks she said.

“Haven’t had your fill from the bath? I could drop you in again if you’d like.” He was half serious. How was he supposed to make her drink when she can’t even lift her own arms?

He watched her roll her eyes away from him, glaring at nothing, refusing to even glance his way. Her eyes could certainly speak volumes when everything else she had was unusable. It made him smile as he brought her to his current bed chambers.

He placed her naked form on his bed, not wanting her to be anywhere else where she couldn’t be watched. Who knows what she’ll get up to if left alone. Who knows what Matthias would do to her if she found her left alone.

He left her there, forgetting about the request for water, wishing to occupy his time with something else. Anything else. He walked around the quiet halls of the Castrum. Most of the occupants were already dead. There were few left here now to annoy him, but the ones that were still alive could draw out his ire entirely too well. Angelica kir Matthias was at least tolerable in her own way. She would have been slaughtered amongst her peers if Zenos hadn’t taken note of how she found death so utterly fascinating. Even when faced with death herself, she simply asked him if he would do it slow enough so she could document her experience before dying. He spared her on a whim really, and as luck would have it, it paid off. Due to her research, she was able to bring the Warrior of Light back from the brink of death, but to what end?

It was hours before Zenos found himself back in his bed chambers. He had almost forgotten that he had left his new pet until he saw her sound asleep on his bed. She hadn’t moved an ilm. Her hair was a damp mess and she was still naked. He strolled over towards her, a wine glass in his hand, still half full of his favorite vintage.

He took a seat next to her, taking in the sight before him. He won’t deny how monstrous she looked, and yet still quite lovely in a way. His free hand glided over her skin. It was so warm and soft. He painted invisible lines with his fingers over her collarbone and breasts and hips, tracing the indentations of her dark scales that met pale flesh. They were smooth and cold, but still pliable like skin. He cupped the side of her face, taking care not to wake her.

Such a dainty little thing that used to be such a deadly little thing.

He scowled at the thought. Why was he wasting his time with this broken creature? How could she bring back that high of battle, that raw instinct of survival? She is nothing now. Just a body of broken promises. There will always be another hunt, another hero that would oppose him. Why not kill this wounded animal? Is it not merciful to end its suffering?

He abruptly took his hand back but in doing so, he managed to cut himself on one of her horns. A droplet of blood fell on her lips as she was jolted awake by the sudden movement.

Zenos looked at his bleeding hand, then looked at her. He watched as her small pink tongue drew in her bottom lip to lick the blood away. Her eyes blinked open as she took in a deep breath.

Her voice was quiet and hoarse. “Zenos?” She asked as she looked up at him confused.

Even lying helpless, she could make him bleed. He brought his bleeding hand to his mouth to lick the remainder away. That wholly familiar metallic taste brought a wild, toothy smile to his lips. That flutter, that feeling started to swell within him once again. Oh, how he missed it. Watching her take a part of him into her had him giddy. It filled him with base, carnal desires he had not felt in so long. For once he did not see his friend as a mere hunt or a savage to be conquered. As his eyes lavishly roamed her nude body he was overtaken by the realization that she was indeed a woman.

One that could equal his power, one that could oppose him, challenge him. Even as she is now, she still fought him, could cut him even. How exhilarating it was to have her with him, her full attention on him alone. Perverse visions ran through his head.

Every woman he has ever bedded bored him to tears. They were only fun when he was able to watch them flee in terror like little rabbits. There was a time when he liked to see how long he could keep one alive as he would hack off a limb or peel away pieces of their flesh before fucking them til they expired. There was a time when their screams sated his bloodlust, but the novelty had worn so thin that he had stopped altogether, at the relief of his father no doubt.

Easy prey was never any fun.

“Water, please.” She tried again, desperate to get a drink she was so parched. He was gone for so long she fell asleep. She didn’t even care that she was naked anymore, she just needed something to fill her stomach. Anything would do.

She didn’t like the look in his eyes when she managed to get his attention. He looked at her like she was something to eat, and that coiled a terrible knot in her stomach.

He took a large sip of his wine into his mouth before he leaned over her. His long golden hair spilled over his shoulders and shielded them from any prying eyes. He pulled her to him before he slipped his face between her horns to place his lips on hers. He gripped her hair painfully, making her cry out. He took the opportunity to seal their mouths together, pouring his wine into her. She choked, unprepared for the liquid going down her throat at such a painful angle. The wine was bitter and dry but she swallowed it nonetheless, hoping it would help her thirst, but it didn’t.

She felt his tongue roam the inner workings of her mouth, lapping at every dip and crevice it could find. She struggled to breathe as his teeth scraped her lips making them bleed. She bit down, her sharp canines piercing the invading muscle, filling her mouth with blood. He finally withdrew, but not before he took her bottom lip between his teeth, raking over them. He chuckled to himself while she tried to regain what little composure she had left.

“Don’t worry.” He said in a way that made her worry. “I’ll take care of you.” There was a darkness in his voice that made her tremble. That timbre reverberated through her, permeating every nerve, electrifying her insides. It bothered her how he could illicit strange unwanted feelings with just the sound of his voice. It was something she would never admit to even her closest friends, but still she felt them.

Her cheeks were flushed red as the rest of her felt much too hot.

Oh, Hydaelyn save her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all of the kudos, guys! You make me smile. :3


	3. Make Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Do I read every comment? Why yes, yes I do. Thank you for every kudos.

The Warrior of Light could hardly process what was going on as she coughed through the burning in her throat. She put her usable left hand over her mouth, trying to hide behind it so she could evaluate her emotions. She was grateful that the paralytic had mostly worn off, but her movements were still sluggish at best. It didn’t help that the only thing in her stomach was very bitter wine. She felt dizziness creeping in. She was a lightweight and thus never drank, usually at the displeasure of some of her adventuring comrades. What she wouldn’t give for a glass of water right about now.

Zenos was much too close to her. She could feel his heat radiating off of him. He was leaning over her, watching her, touching her. His breath fanned her face, and she was all too aware of her very bare skin.

She gave a surprised squeal the moment he pinched a nipple, making it bead into a point. Grabbing his hand, she was near hysterical, her face a deep shade of red. “Stop! Stop! This is inappropriate!” She managed to bring a knee between them to give her some much needed space, but any more sudden movements would have her head swimming. What was in that wine?

“Inappropriate?” He chuckled, almost maniacally. “Not enticing, or provocative, or even,” He trailed off, looking deep into her pupil-less eyes to await her reaction, “Treasonous?”

She was taken aback by the very notion. “Y-you’re the one taking advantage of me, remember?” 

“I suppose I am.” He stated nonchalantly, his mouth now at her scaled throat. As expected, it was much tougher than skin, but still sank satisfyingly between his teeth. For a non Au’Ra, they would have bled, but the tougher hide protected her delicate neck. The yelp she gave enticed him to continue to bite and paw at whatever he could reach. 

Flustered couldn’t begin to describe what she felt. “Zenos, you have to stop. We shouldn’t be doing this.” Her voice was quiet but harsh. She was still so thirsty, and the burning alcohol helped not at all. She felt dizzy and hot. There was still pulsing pain from her right shoulder. Everything about this was much too much. She needed to breathe, but his grace would not stop his minstruations. 

Zenos easily pinned her down to his bed, using one arm to prop himself up, whilst the other rubbed the hard congregation of her scales that connected to her horns. She mewled at the touch, such a place was much too sensitive to be touched so casually by another’s hands. Weakly she tried pushing him away from her again as her legs scrambled for some sort of purchase on the bed. “Oh? Afraid your comrades will find out? Or perhaps a lover?”

“What? I don-AH,” His fingers found themselves between her legs, his calloused fingers rubbing long hard strokes against her nub as they invaded her. His name fell from her lips in pants as she begged him to stop. Gods how lovely the way she said his name, the dainty lilt before drawing out the o in a hushed reverberation; how hungry that made him feel. The emotion was both new and familiar, a hunt he has not partaken in in quite some time. He yearned for her touch as a warrior, but never once dreamed to have it turn into the touch of a woman, a lover, whatever you wanted to call it. He felt he needed that contact, whether it was with a sword or her bare skin, that flutter returned, that basic instinct of survival prevailed. 

To live, to eat, to breed. That is the purpose of all living things. As he felt her shake and stutter beneath him, her inner walls clamping down on his fingers, her voice trailing off to panicked whispers as she convulsed beneath him, much more terrible darker thoughts rose within him. What better thing to live for than the thrill of the hunt? And if he must eat, then he would eat the spoils of his quarry. And if he were to breed, who better for the Prince of Garlemald to fuck than his one and only equal? This tiny monstrous savage. His enemy. His very best friend. 

He sat up to remove his clothing, allowing him to drink in the view of his spoils, a pretty thing she is. The Eikon Slayer’s breasts rose and fell as she took in raspy breaths of air. There were tears dotting her eyes, from shame or bliss, he didn’t know and didn’t care. Once the sound of an unbuckling belt reached her ears, panic rose within the Warrior of Light. She clumsily kicked herself away from him to the headboard, backing herself into a corner.

What was happening? What was he doing? She was so confused and light headed. What did he just do to her? The coils of pleasure that leaked from her were spread across the bed sheets. She felt so ashamed, so frail, and yet she couldn’t help the boiling of excitement, she could barely draw breath. But most of all she was scared, so scared she shook. She couldn’t think clearly, her world began to blur. 

Her display of cowardice nearly served to dissuade Zenos from claiming her, his frown prevailed as the need to cull this world of weaklings bubbled up to the surface. How he hated easy prey. He grabbed her right arm, roughly dragging her back across the bed towards him, sickened by her cry of pain. A loud smack echoed through his bed room, the sound startling him more than the sting to the right side of his cheek.

“Stop it, Zenos! You are hurting me!” She yelled directly towards his face, spitting with anger. Pain was a wonderful tool if you knew how to use it. It could distract you from unwanted feelings, spur you onwards to make said pain end, fan your flames if all that’s left are your embers. She stared him straight in the eye, or she hoped it was his eye, there were more now than when they started. Her head was spinning too fast. 

He laughed once more. There she is, there’s his wild, untamed beast. How appetizing her anger was, he was throbbing for it, desired it the way a man in a desert desired rain. No, she was not a weakling or some worthless cur who could not fight their own battles. No, no, no. She was simply a wounded animal doing its best to survive its hunter. There clearly was no other choice than have her be healed and then build her up again to her former glory. She is the last pleasure that he has been given in this world, and as he bade her to do before, we will ensure she does so now. Live, little savage. You will live because Zenos yae Galvus commands it.

He brought her naked form to him, cradling her much like a lover would. His touch became tender as he massaged the base of her horns, the rough scales catching on the calluses of his fingers in a pleasant sort of way. He could smell the oils from the bath and the slickness between her legs pervade his senses as her quiet whimpers filled the empty space between them. 

She held her right arm, partially for comfort, but mostly to help with the pain. She would need to find a sling for it soon. Shaking her head to try and clear it of whatever was in that wine and the touch of Zenos’s hands, she meekly asked him, “What do you want from me?”

“Is it not obvious? We are but two caged animals, one in a rut and the other helpless and dripping onto my bed sheets.” The perverse undertones of his words wound her up, stirring a wholly new sensation. 

Her eyes were wide with humiliation and disbelief. “I don’t understand.” She lied, flabbergasted at the thought of being with anyone in such a way let alone Zenos of all people.

Zenos smiled, caressing the side of her face, feeling the indentations of scale meeting flesh. He brought his lips to the top of her head, whispering into her long soft silver hair. He stated nonchalantly, almost soothingly “I’m going to fuck you, my dear. Keep you locked in my embrace until you cannot stand, use you for my enjoyment until I grow bored. I will ensure you will not know peace until morning greets us, and then I will fuck you all. Over. Again.” His voice deteriorated into a low and viscous growl that she could feel in the pit of her loins. 

She shook from fear again. “Please… please, don’t do that, Zenos. I-I-I,” Words escaped her. How could she ever admit to him that she had never had any sort of relations with anyone? Being the Warrior of Light meant having very little time to pursue such things as romance, she barely had enough time for her friends. She had a world to save, two in fact! And who knows if she’ll be dragged to another star in her future?! How selfish of her to want companionship as she would have to leave them behind? Her duties as a Warrior of Light will pull her in all directions deemed more paramount than her beloved.

Her duty is more pressing than her needs, her wants, her desires. She is Hydealyn’s chosen first and foremost. All else must be cast aside. There is no room for matters of the heart when an entire sea of hands are reaching out for your help.

Her walls broke down and her vision blurred further.

Tears began to freely fall. Her first time was something she had wishfully dreamed of saving for someone who would love her. Whether she afforded herself the luxury or not, it was a choice she made for herself, but now, she didn’t have that choice anymore. Not that it mattered. The burden of being her spouse will never be an option. So _what_ if Zenos was her first? It would make no difference. There wouldn’t have ever been another lover anyway. 

She took in a deep breath to regain her composure. She knew she was not strong enough to fight Zenos as she is now. Her dominant hand was useless, her weapons were nowhere to be found, and most importantly, she cannot feel the star’s aether as her magicks seemed to have abandoned her to her fate. She cleared her throat and stifled her tears. She willed herself to be strong, even though it took everything she already had not to fall apart at the seams. “Will you, p-please, be gentle with me?” She asked. No. Begged. She prayed for mercy at the hands of Doma’s executioner. He who would have burned the entirety of the countryside to the ground if she had not been there to stop him. And now she begs him for a gentle rape.

He grabbed her chin, lifting her head to meet his gaze. The ice blue eyes of this cold and calculated killer softened, peering deeply into the pure white light of her eyes. Zenos tilted his head to the side whilst he grazed his thumb over her soft dark lips. His bemused smile was tender and… kind? If such an angelic face had been on any other man, the Au’Ra might have possibly fallen in love, but the cold grip of fear clutched her tight. 

“No,” He said.

He grabbed the back of her hair forcefully craning her neck backwards, making her head swim as she couldn’t discern what was up or down anymore. His other hand reached around and grabbed the base of her tail, the spikes deliciously digging into his flesh like needles. He lined her up with his cock before in one swift motion, sheathed himself inside of her.

She gave a choked cry as both pain and pleasure consumed her. He was far too big. He filled her to burst and she didn’t know how he hadn’t torn her apart. She held her arms to herself, wanting to keep her right arm as still as possible, knowing Zenos would grant her not a single mercy as he began to lift and re-sheath again and again. She was in pain, but she could not help the spasms of pleasure that erupted each time their hips would meet. She cried and she moaned, hoping he would get very bored, very quickly.

The sounds of their copulation were made louder as Zenos found the perfect rhythm to have her ride him. Being so light in his arms he could move her as he wished, position her as he wished. She gripped him tight enough to hurt, the pain fueling his desires more and more as she leaked, soaking them both with clear and red molten fluids. It was intoxicating. He was needy for her cries, for the way she gasped his name, watching as her breasts bounced and his full thick length disappeared inside of her. Excruciating and carnal was this new dance, one he sought to enjoy for as long as his body would allow.

He could hear her pleas to stop, over and over again, her tears flowing from a broken damn. “If you want me to stop, my little pet,” He began, thrusting harder, deeper, the smell of sweat, and blood, and sex filled his nostrils to the brim. “Then make me.”

He used her for his own ends for hours and hours into the night. Playing and biting and scratching, having her a sopping mewling mess beneath him err long. He enjoyed the ripples of her climax along his length as her walls would refuse to let him go, taking him deeper and deeper. She was so soft, and melted into him with every shared breath and heart beat. His release had come suddenly in the moments she reached up to touch his face, her tears long since dried. 

He didn’t know why such a delicate stroke of her hand had undone him. It was so chaste a touch, he would have sworn that he simply imagined it if he hadn’t watched her weakly reach for him. Her fingers curled into his curtain of hair, pulling at the strands with whatever strength had yet left her. Her eyes hid behind her dusky lashes as she left her mouth open in a silent plea. Ragged breaths escaped from between her pretty lips.

What a precious angelic little creature that laid before him.

His cock had nothing left to spill. He was empty and drained from his rough housing. Though the spirit was very willing, the body was weak, even with the might of his superior Garlean blood coursing through his veins. Even he needed rest as he noticed the sun peaking just beyond the horizon. Finally deciding to pull out, he heard her hollow, tired whine. He could feel his seed dribbling from between her lower lips. What a terrible mess his new pet has made.

Zenos managed to pick himself up off the bed. The bringer of light couldn’t see where he went as she was much too tired to crane her head to look. She was spent. Her body ached in ways she never knew it could. Her hips felt bruised and there were scratches and bites littering the snowy blue landscape of her body. He had even somehow managed to chip a few scales. They were shallow cuts, but they stung nonetheless. Without him inside her, she felt so empty. Empty from his absence of body and soul. It drained her emotionally, physically, to know that she could not save herself. 

_‘Make me stop’_ he said. Why was he always looking for a fight? 

She was so tired. She wanted to cry but there were no more tears left in her to shed. She wanted to sleep, but rest was unachievable so long as she knew Zenos was nearby. Can the Warrior of Light disappear for just a little while? Will any god have pity on their preordained killer? 

Hydealyn, help your chosen daughter for she is lost.

She was taken from her pity party as Zenos lifted her up to a sitting position. She closed her eyes expecting the worst. She managed to croak out a desperate, “No more.” 

“Are you certain, because I can assure you won’t be granted another glass til I decide to wake.” 

The Warrior of Light opened her eyes once more to see that Zenos had finally brought her a drink of water. She was about to take it from him when he pulled it back. “Ah-ah! What do we say, my little savage?”

She swallowed the accumulated saliva, the promise of water provoking her glands to open. “Thank… you.”

Zenos's bemused smile never left his features. Even drenched in sweat and disheveled he was beautiful. “If you keep being a good and obedient pet, I just might keep you.” He put the glass to her lips, tipping it so she could finally take heedless sips, allowing some of the water to drip from her chin. “Alive that is.” His voice once again reverberated through her, making promises she knew he would keep.


	4. The Unknown Savage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I'm throwing my brain spaghetts at a wall and seeing what sticks. Is this canon compliant? Loosely. Does it matter? Probably not. I just hope you like it.

The Warrior of Light had been within the custody of the Garleans, from what she could gather, a few weeks now. Most of it she had been unconscious for, and this past week has been teetering on the edge of a hell. Zenos came for her every night, and every night his embrace was caustic. He was not a gentle lover by any means. Much like how he fought, with sheer brutality, so too were his bedroom passions. 

He wanted her to fight him, to push him away just so he could throw her back down again. Show her how truly helpless she really was. He was as relentless as he had always been. Unmoving, unbreaking as he would poke and prod her, antagonize her, kiss her.

Her face reddened at that last thought. 

“Oh, lovey, your face is flushed, are you running another fever?” Angelica kir Matthias was the last person that the bringer of light would ever think she would become friends with, but here she was helping her with her “projects” and “research”. What these projects and research notes were for, she had not a single clue. Nor would she be able to understand them if Matthias had tried to explain it.

Eorzea’s hero simply shook her head no. 

“Oh, good, because I have a lot of tests I need to run on you… for scientific purposes of course.” Mattias adjusted her goggles. She never removed them.

The little Au’Ra rolled her eyes. She’s heard this song and dance before. One of these days, she would love to put all of her brainiac friends in a room and see what they come up with. They would tear the fabric of reality to pieces, she just knows it.

“Now, then, lovey, go ahead and lie yourself down. I promise it’ll only sting a little, oh, yes!” Matthias always seemed to have the widest, most erratic smile on her face, always showing teeth. Her penchant for light sadism perturbed the Eikon Slayer, she’ll admit, but she could appreciate Matthias’s quirks. Afterall, it was her brilliance that helped to save the Warrior of Light’s life. 

But to what end? She couldn’t stop asking herself this. Why would Zenos save her? To kill her himself later? Wasn’t he the one who did this to her in the first place? No. No that can’t be right. She was hit from behind. She thinks. Her memories of what exactly happened were muddy at best, and completely gone at worst. She felt like she should have died on that battlefield. She could feel pieces of her soul had faded, seeped back into the quiet of the aetherial sea. She’s felt alone in her body since she woke. 

“Ow!” She yelped when Matthias hit a particularly sensitive spot on her shoulder. 

“Sorry, love! Sorry!” Matthias was quick to apologize, but the words never seemed sincere for an apology. They were merely a practiced speech, a reflex if you will, the light tone and crazed smile still there plastered like a mask.

Eorzea’s champion winced again as another sensitive spot was touched with what felt like a hot needle. She wasn’t able to fully see the damage that had been done to her, but it looked as if someone punched a hole straight down past her bones. From how Matthias described it, the hole was hollow. No, that wasn’t quite right. That was the layman's terms she used to try and explain it to the hero. Where the hole is, there should be bits and pieces of the Warrior of Light’s body, some healing skin, scar tissue, her muscles and sinew, blood even, but there was nothing to be seen in the gaping wound. It was just a hole that sucked the very aether from her body. If she hadn’t been so suffused with the contrasting forces of light and darkness, she would have been vaporized instantly. 

Or so she speculated. Matthias simply said her aetherial network was imbalanced, and she seemed to be overflowing with two distinct forms of aether. Both of which, moreover, are slowly being eaten away by this… this hollow hole. This void. 

It worried her a bit. 

All her new found friend could do for now was try and patch it, keep it stable and clean, whilst she came up with a solution to fix it in its entirety. Per Zenos’s orders no less. 

That man was impossible to understand. The Warrior of Light could relate to the thrill of battle, the revelry of crossing swords with another who can stand their ground against you. Rise to the occasion as one very enthusiastic primal had once said to her as they fought. It’s exhilarating. She wouldn’t have lasted very long as Hydealyn’s chosen if she didn’t enjoy fighting, but with Zenos it’s… different. It’s as if his only passion was to fight, that he had nothing else, lived for nothing else. There wasn’t anything in this world that sophonsified him other than the feeling of steel on flesh or fountains of blood.

His thirst was ravenous.

Even in bed he would provoke her as he raped and ravaged her. _“Make me stop”_ , he would tell her, _“take your vengeance, slit my throat and drink deep of my blood when you do.”_ He knew she couldn’t, not the way she was now. She thought he would’ve gotten bored by now. She was too weak to stand against him, or anyone for that matter. She can’t be the hunt he had pursued for so long, and no one knew if she would be again, so why? Why did he keep her here? Why did he take her again and again in such a loveless embrace? To make her hate him? It’s almost like he wants her to kill him, as if he has nothing else to live for. Only the thrill of the hunt, even though his prey was helpless and slowly dying.

Although, she had to admit, their bouts just weren’t the same, and it’s not his late night appetites she was referring to. He seemed to always want to have his hands on her, touch her in whatever ways he could. He encouraged her to strike him, bite him, cut him, but she couldn’t bring herself to hurt him the way he wanted her to. This was not the frontlines. This was not a dojo. This was his bedroom. He was unarmed. No matter how much he told her to fight him or how rough he would be when he was inside of her, she absolutely refused.

She didn’t want to continue the pain just because he wished for her anger. There was no anger, only emptiness and sadness. For every sharp stroke of his hips, there was a soft caress of her hands. For every bruise and scratch, there was a cupped cheek and fingers threaded through long and golden hair. A warrior though she was through and through, never had she truly wanted to hurt anybody, not even Zenos, even though he has hurt so many. Even though he continues to hurt her over and over again.

“Oh! Oh, no. I’m so sorry, lovey. I’m almost done. I promise!” The medical engineer still had that sing-song melody to her voice as her words sounded out the words of apologies, but never truly meant them. 

Matthias placed her teal handkerchief in front of the hero’s face. She didn’t even realize she had started crying. She was such a baby. She quickly took the offered cloth and began dabbing at her eyes with it. She was grateful for Matthias’s company. She loved her pet names and the unhinged smiles and the verbal tick she had that reminded her of the Namazu’s yes, yes. It was nice to have someone who expected nothing from her but her time, and her body for scientific purposes but that was neither here nor there. It was nice not having to be the Warrior of Light for a time.

“Oh, oh yes! There you go, lovey.” Matthias cooed, helping the injured hero to a sitting position. Matthias immediately placed a chocolate bonbon to her lips. “Here, for you, for making you cry, my love.” The Warrior of Light took the sweet into her mouth happily. Another perk of being friends with Matthias was her cooking, and she was rewarded each time she had a check up.

As she chewed her delicious treat, Matthias helped bandage her, adjust her sling, and put on her clothes. The Warrior of Light was embarrassed to have to wear garlean children’s clothing because that was all that could fit her. She cursed the height challenges she inherited from her father. It didn’t help that Garleans were just so tall, too tall! 

“Could you do me a favor on your way back to his Radiance’s quarters?” The Warrior of Light frowned, loath to the fact that Matthias knows where she stays every night, but nodded to her nonetheless. “Oh, good. I need you to take one of these every night. Not every other night, not once a week or moon, every night. It’ll help with the pain and hopefully we can get that spring in your step Lord Zenos so appreciates.” 

The Warrior of Light cringed as she was handed a little glass bottle of pills. They looked strange. They swirled with a teal blue light. She gave her friend a suspicious look. “Is this bitter?” She asked.

“Oh, oh yes! Bitter is better!” She smiled bright and wide.

The now bandaged and fully dressed hero shook her head and left, promising that she would indeed take her medicine every night. Doctor’s orders and all that. Though perhaps she should have asked what the side effects were, but too late now. She had already rounded the corner.

Someone bumped into her, the contents of their person spilling onto the floor.

“Ohhh, nooooooo!” The little one cried out. It was a Miqo'te child. He scrambled to pick up the crate of scattered vegetables, the hero quickly jumping in to help him. Once everything had been put back into the crate, the little Miqo'te perked up, a grin on his face. “Thank you, miss!” The Warrior of Light saw his eyes glance down at her neck, the shining gleaming metal catching his attention no doubt. “Huh, I’ve never seen a shock collar like that before. Must be a new model! I’m Jemmi by the way. You’re probably the new hire Mr. Pelletier’s been lookin’ for! You can just follow me right over to ‘im! I’ll show ye where he’s at!”

What was it with people always mistaking her for their new hire? Must be that she had one of those faces. The assumption usually irritated her, but how could she be upset with such a sweet little face? He was so cheerful and adorable, she just simply couldn’t say no. Little Jemmi squatted to pick up the crate he had been holding, but was beaten to it by the unknown champion of savages before him. She easily picked it up single handedly, holding it up much like you would a serving tray with her one usable hand. Jemmi’s eyes sparkled with amazement. “Wow! You’re really strong for a girl!” That made her eyes roll. Boys. Am I right?

“I’m the strongest to have ever lived.” She proclaimed as she followed him to the kitchens.

“Yeah, right! That’s not true! There’s plenty of guards here who could beat you up easy!” Jemmi exclaimed, liking the new comer. 

“Is that so? You should point them out to me, and I’ll show you just how strong I am.” She gave him a wink.

“You bet I will! There’s this one named Butts, well that’s not his real name, but me and Cassie always call him Butts cuz he honestly kind of stinks all the time, that I saw take down a whole bear all by himself!” Jemmi continued on and on to the kitchens, happy to have someone to talk to on his way.

What followed once they arrived was a series of tasks she had to complete with the little tike. Their taskmaster was Mr. Pelletier, head of staff. He was a very strict old hyur man, his hair a silvery white, his face sunken with age, but he was still as spry as any of the younger staff. The Warrior of Light presumed that he had to be to keep up with the demands the Imperials must place on him. 

She could tell he was a kind man as he would use his handkerchief to wipe smudged dirt off of Jemmi’s face, or help one of the older cooks with a sack of flour as they poured the contents into a very large mixing bowl. He took care to give the Warrior of Light more menial tasks due to her obvious injury, noting her dominant hand in a sling. He did all this whilst giving her instruction, and told her to do her best not to be seen by the guards while she was alone. Though there weren’t many left since Lord Zenos’s return, the details of why he did not share with her. She was warned, however, that the guards like to shirk their duties, sneak off and harass the staff. He told her that he would do his best to keep them at bay since they preferred the female staff.

She recognized the implication.

She noticed that the entire staff did not have a single Garlean amongst them. They were Miqo’te, or Hyur, or Elezen. Another odd occurrence was just how few guards there were around the Royal Palace. Shouldn’t it have been filled with a good portion of the Imperial’s military might? Shouldn’t they have proper patrols? Guards posted at every entrance and exit? The only Garlean that checked in on them was an occasional guard that was making his rounds. And what exactly happened to their late Emperor, Varus zos Galvus, Zenos’s own father? She knew from a long briefing with the Alliance that he had died fairly recently, leaving panic and chaos in his wake. The military was in shambles. Then Zenos took his birthright before he marched his forces into Alliance territory. 

She knew he only did that to coerce her to meet him. Preemptively tip the Alliance’s hands to force their fabled hero onto the battlefield. She knew Zenos didn’t care for the throne or his bloodline or anything he deemed a hindrance to his hunt. Their fight was all he cared for, all he still ever cared for. 

She could not help the sigh that escaped her as she walked the long metal halls of the Imperial Palace. She had to listen to the ramblings of Mr. Pelletier as he dictated the rules she would have to follow. 

“Listen. I don’t know why they would put someone as dangerous as you are within the Royal palace to be mere kitchen staff, but I should warn you to not step out of line here.” He motioned to her “shock collar”.

Dangerous? HA! If only he knew who she really was. 

“His Radiance is not a kind man, and he will take any excuse to slaughter his own kin, much less a prisoner of war.”

She was quite familiar with how unkind Zenos can be. She shivered at the thought.

“That man is by all definitions of the word, evil. He killed his own father if that gives you any idea on what kind of hell you’ve been delivered to.” 

“Wait, what?” She was taken aback. She stopped in her tracks. Zenos killed his own father? 

Mr. Pelletier nodded sadly. “Not many people know that. Most think it was the plot of two infiltrators that had broken in when the massacre was taking place. There were so many bodies, it took weeks to get the stains off of the floors. I hope to never have a repeat of such a sight. It was… gruesome. So for now, do your best to stay out of sight of His Radiance and learn each servant's passages as quickly as you can.”

Better said than done, she thought.

Before she was able to let all of the information given to her sink in, she was abruptly pushed aside. “Bow your head and don’t say a word.” The older Hyur whispered to her. She did not bow her head, not that he could see that, but she did not move. If there was trouble, she wants to see it coming.

She heard the distant clang of metal on metal as footsteps drew nearer and nearer towards them. They stopped, then turned to them.

“What do we have here?” That voice again. The droning baritone, the amused canter of his tone that depicted that he of course knew the answer to his question, but wanted you to stumble over your words for him anyway.

“Your Radiance, I was simply giving a tour to our new staff member.” Mr. Pelletier quickly explained himself. He did his best to not be too brief or long-winded. He wanted it to be straight and to the point to hopefully keep the new Emperor’s ire at bay.

“Aren’t you a little overqualified to be hired help?” He stared her down, a slight smile gracing his lips.

“Aren’t you a little under qualified to be an Emperor of this shite hole?” She would not back down as she bit him with her haughty words. She would cross her arms in defiance if she could.

The gasp that came from the old Hyur’s mouth made her think he had had a heart attack. He was flustered and stumbling over his words, aghast at the fact that she had just back-talked Zenos zos Galvus. “Y-your Radiance! Your forgiveness, please! She’s but a simple savage, she has not learned her manners, please, a-allow me to take full responsibility for this situation.”

Zenos allowed the man to plead for his little pet’s life. It seemed no matter where she went, she could make a friend. People would lay down their lives to protect her, even from him. Small insignificant weaklings dared to presume she needed their protection. How adorable.

His chuckle sent chills down Mr. Pelletier’s spine. It left his mouth dry as his temples sweated from fear, and he shook like a leaf in a windstorm. Please Gods, have mercy upon this foolish little child. Do not let this be her last day upon this star.

“Did you not tell them who you are? How is it that there are savages who don't yet know your name?” He turned to her. She shrugged. He pulled her back towards him, a steady hand on her left shoulder, while the other cupped her chin to frame it for the bewildered head of staff. “Do you know who this specimen of pure power is? This divine little creature?” Zenos’s voice rolled over her, his meaning for divine like an undercurrent waiting to drag her off of her feet into oblivion. His hand began sinking lower to cup at her breast before reaching further down. 

“She who felled the primals of beasts and men. She who brings the promise of salvation to your people’s pitiful prayers before you summon her to murder your own gods?” He tugged at the hem of her skirt, but she held it firmly in place.

Her face was red, she did not want to be humiliated in front of someone she had just met. “Zenos, stop it!”

He stood straight up, allowing her to pat her skirt back down as he petted her hair. “This is The Warrior of Light, the champion of this star’s more primitive races. You would do well to memorize the face of your so called hero, savage. You will only have so much time to know of it.”

With that, Zenos grabbed her usable arm and carted her away. She looked back to her new friend, a look of worry on her features as she desperately wished to apologize for putting him in harm’s way. She needed to be more careful now. It isn’t like it was when she could traipse about as the Warrior of Light back home, back in Eorzea. She can’t defend the defenseless, she cannot advocate for the weak. Not like this. Not as she is now. She could feel the pill bottle rattling around in her pocket. She reminded herself that she needed to get better. She had to stop Zenos and this war and the sundering and whatever else the fates deign to throw her way. 

She will do what she must. She will live. She will live because that is her duty. She will live because she is the Warrior of Light and nothing must stand in her way. She just has to get better.


	5. Green Eyes

How is she still alive?

Fandaniel watched silently as His Radiance carted off his quarry to do only the Gods know what. Each day he sees her, the more that hot volcanic anger fermented in the pit of his stomach. It boiled beneath his skin as his teeth clenched tight to seethe at the evidence of his failure. How could such a lowly misshapen form have so much unbridled rage still left within it? The breadth of this pure, untainted loathing had possessed this body for no one else but the bringer of light herself. Not even his brothers and sisters of the Convocation despised Hydealyn’s daughter as much. Though they cursed her and reviled her, none came as close to what Fandaniel felt deep, deep within the pits of this empty husk’s very being.

It was disturbing just how potent this poison of human emotion was, it seeped into every crevice of his thoughts, overtaking his own desires. It made Fandaniel act on impulses he had not known before. It was strange yet… intoxicating. He was not used to such powerful whims. It was as if the very remnants of Asahi sas Brutus’s soul lingered long since the body had expired.These feelings, these impulses were not his own, just as this body was not his own. He had felt powerful emotions in other flesh puppets before but never to such a degree, especially not one that was dead upon arrival.

Fandaniel could not help but spy upon his new master who’s affections seemed to have been seized by the very woman he had sworn to obliterate; the same one whom he had killed his father for, slaughtered his fractured army for, brought down a civil war for. Fandaniel did everything in his power to please his lord, he did everything to make sure that his hunt would indeed continue. Every plotted move and underhanded play was all for His Radiance, and this is how he is repaid? He brought her home like some stray cat to pet and play and fawn over. 

How is she able to do that? How is she able to tip the hands of fate into her favor over and over again? It was nauseating! 

Her fortunes had cost not only his brothers and sisters their lives and their dreams, but also Fandaniel’s sense of stability. How does one plan for such absurd luck? How do you fight against the tides of fate when the riptide drags you under again and again? He has been alive long enough to know how to tip the odds in his favor, to win over his masters and their subjects, but he had no answer to what she was. The Warrior of Light played the game by her own rules. Hydaelyn chose her daughter well for the star she was born from granted her far too many favors too often. 

Every time he thought about it, that fermenting rage burned a hole through his stomach. He sees the way Lord Zenos looks at her as if she was the only other person in his entire world. The stray touches, the soft smile, the look of satisfaction that would cross his features when she was near. She should be so lucky to even be within His Radiance’s presence let alone have all of his attention diverted to her care. The very notion sickened him. Should it not be he, Fandaniel, to have such adoration? Was it not Fandaniel to have made all of this possible? Was it not Fandaniel who helped his Lord win the civil war? Was it not Fandaniel who orchestrated their meeting? Was it not Fandaniel who eased his lord’s mind when memories of the Final Days plagued him? Should it not be Fandaniel to whom Zenos zos Galvus should regard in such high esteem? He should be beloved in his eyes not... 

No.

Stop. 

These feelings were not his own. Just as this body was not his own.

Fandaniel buried his face in his hand, embarrassed that once again he had been overtaken by the body’s desires. Such cruel irony really. He had only wanted to be free to do as he pleased, to walk this star as the lowly humans did, to experience every kind of pleasure this world had to offer him, but once again he had been shackled. Shackled not by his brethren or by his duty, no. He is bound by the whims of this meat puppet’s previous owner. 

He glanced down from atop his perch high above the castrum rafters to witness His Radiance drag his caged little bird into his bed chambers. Fandaniel noticed that she had been resisting him less and less, perhaps biding her time for her obvious plans of escape. She was clearly easing Lord Zenos into a false sense of security. If only he could see it. If only Fandaniel could warn him without his lovely new head being separated clean from his shoulders. 

He could barely breathe as he watched Zenos draw her close. His borrowed heart felt ready to tear itself to pieces, the stomach twisted tightly into knots. No matter how many times he would remind himself that these feelings were not his own, just as this body was not his own, the green eyed monster bid him to act all the same.

It’s not fair. It is simply not fair.

_____

It’s not fair. It is simply not fair. How can anyone be so evil, so monstrous and yet still be so blessed to be as beautiful as he? Then again, many forget that the devil himself was once an angel.

The Warrior of Light laid still next to her captor, glaring at him as he slept next to her. His arm draped lazily over her, bidding her to stay. She was too afraid of the consequences to move an ilm anyway, and so she laid there next to him. She hated him. She hated his dumb pretty face and his dumb long lashes and just how soft his dumb long stupid golden hair was. The more she looked at him the angrier she became.

She hated what she had become because of him. His precious little fuck toy that he could take out and play with whenever it pleased him. He had dragged her into his room earlier that evening just so he could use her because he had claimed to be bored to death by the monotony of Garlean beurachracy. Shirking his responsibilities as a ruler because he would much rather do terrible things to her than lead his own people. Her tail was nothing more than a handle for him to keep her still, her moans and cries were simply queues to keep him embedded inside of her. He was so starved for her touch at the end of the day that most of her clothes would not survive the night.

He was malicious with his desires. There was never a time when he wasn’t reaching for unbruised skin or biting unmarked scales. Each time the wind would be knocked out of her as he buried himself deep inside, always selfish and self gratifying. She was simply there to fulfill his whims, a little empty cask to pour his seed into over and over again. 

She was scared to death of possibly having his child.

“You’re staring.” She heard the soft rasp of his voice, sleep seemed to elude Zenos. 

She gave a huff, her cheeks puffed out as they turned red. “Prove it.”

“Hmm.” A smile graced his lips as his eyes remained shut. “Expecting a kiss good night?” he drew her in closer, but was much too groggy to do much else.

She looked down and away from his smug face, deciding his naked chest was a much better view to calm her nerves. Her hands placed delicately there to keep a modicum of distance. “Uh… no. I don’t -that is to say- my people don’t really have such customs for affection.” She admitted. Face to face contact wasn’t really something Au’Ra did due to their horns as one could imagine. Zenos has nicked himself a time or two on her, leaving droplets of blood at the tips of them. It spurred him to be more untame as he would forcefully bring her mouth to his. It left her face hot whenever she thought about it. 

Such a silly thing to be embarrassed over.

“Right, your horns.” He sighed, content, most likely due to the romping from earlier. He was well spent. 

“You can’t keep me here forever you know.” She stated matter-of-factly. He must know that right?

“And why not?” He asked childishly, bringing his hand to tangle its fingers into her long silver hair. His thumb began to massage the sensitive scales at the base of her horns.

That simple question frustrated her as she tried to ignore the pleasing sensation of her scales being rubbed. “Because I have responsibilities! I have people counting on me to return to them. You can’t possibly believe that I would just stay here with you?! The moment I’m better, you have to know that I’m gone, right?”

He opened his eyes at that. “When you are better?” The low, dangerous tone in his voice sent a chill up her spine. He grabbed her right wrist, twisting it in his grasp as he brought her even closer with his other arm, crushing her against him. He didn’t even wince when her horns dug into his skin. She gave a yelp of pain, her right arm still unable to be taxed in any way. “What should I break next to make you stay then, hm? Your arm perhaps? Or I could cut off a leg or two to ensure you can never run from me again, yes, I think I like that idea. I only really need the holes between them.” He bent her wrist more, the odd angle excruciating for the Warrior of Light to bear.

Through gritted teeth she spat out, “Y-you wouldn’t dare cripple your hunt. I know better than anyone the high you’re chasing.” She looked up into his eyes, purposefully scraping her horns against his chest so that he would bleed from the twin cuts. “I know better than anyone what it is like to have no equal, the boredom that that realization can bring. The emptiness of power when there is nothing to use it on and no one to share it with.” Her hushed and even breath cooled with every word as she spoke them. The ice in her eyes that pierced through stone bored into his. “I know you want to fight me again because there is nothing else in your sad miserable existence that gives you pleasure. Not wealth, not power, not people; only a good hunt for a wild dog will ever suffice.” 

His condescending smile aggravated her even more. Hushed tender tones met her ears when he spoke, much like a boy experiencing their first love. “You wound me, my little savage.” He seemed, to her, to revel in her icy tones and hateful words. He wasn’t wounded, he was downright giddy. He brought her captured wrist to his lips, planting a chaste kiss at her knuckles.

She didn’t know why such a thing hurt her. She grimaced and bit back her tongue to try and stifle oncoming tears. Why? Why did she feel this way? Everything she was, everything she had, he played with. She was his and his alone in this place. He indulged himself in her, taking more than she would ever normally allow, and he never gave anything in return that wasn’t laced with poison and ulterior motives. 

She meant nothing. She was nothing. 

She used her left hand to push his face away from her. “Good, I’m glad. I’m hoping to force you to put me out of my misery. Better to die than to stay with you in all honesty.” She was certainly in a venomous mood tonight. 

Zenos would not back down however. He pushed himself up to hover above her on his forearm to cage her in. “You really want me to kill you, little savage?” He ran a finger from her thigh over her stomach and breasts to her collarbone to play with the metal collar around her neck. His breath fanned across her face as he sighed from exhaustion. “I suppose I could comply, but didn’t you just say you had people waiting for you to return to them? Your so called friends? Your loved ones? Are you truly going to leave them completely defenseless against me?” 

He snatched her throat and brought her to him. Her breath left her as Zenos squeezed harder and harder, his large hands able to snap her in half if he wanted to. “I can promise you that the moment you draw your last breath, I’ll destroy every single thing you have ever loved in _your_ sad miserable life. I will tear this world asunder and use whatever is left to burn at your funeral pyre, dearest.” He smiled down at her as she choked and clawed to be let free. How dare he smile so softly, so sweetly as if the only words that left his mouth were romantic whispers.

“Tell me who should I kill first? Hm? You have so many friends to choose from, it’s difficult to pick just one from the crowd. Although hardly any of them were even worth drawing my blade for.” The disgusted scowl that overtook his features said it all. He was utterly disappointed by the company she chose to keep as not a single one were fit for sport. None were worthy enough to polish the boots she wore. To him they were all fodder, too insignificant to even be remembered.

Yet they meant everything to her. They were her everything.

His voice came out as an angry, raspy whisper. “You seem to be quite fond of those elezen twins. What were their names? Hardly matters I suppose, but I promise to lay them next to you in your grave, my little savage.” Zenos watched as her skin faded from a pale blue to a ghostly white, her eyes clenched shut and her mouth gaping like a fish desperate to draw breath. He could faintly see that silhouette of light invading the corners of his eyes once more as he refused to let go. It reached for her as her face became shrouded in that mixture of shadow and light. 

It was happening again. She was fading away and there wasn’t anything he could do to stop it from happening except allow her to live another day. Before he could finish his train of thought, however, he felt the dainty touch of her fingertips brush against his cheek. Her silent gaping now clear to him as he could read what her lips were trying to say without the words to reach him.

_‘Zenos. Stop.’_

He abruptly let her go. The Warrior of Light gulped and coughed, the gasps for air were frantic and uneven as she began to weep. Her entire body curled in on itself, shifting away from him onto her side. Her left hand tangled into her hair and her knees were drawn up to shield her from him. “Please, don’t hurt them.”

If Zenos hadn’t been so close, he would have missed those words entirely. 

Eorzea’s Champion took in shaky breaths, tears pouring from her eyes as she thought about what Zenos could possibly do to them. There was nothing in this world she loved more, and she was sickened that he knew which loss would hurt her the most. Alphinaud and Alisae were like the little siblings she never had. They were the first ones she had met on her journey as the Warrior of Light, and how she loved watching them grow into their own. She loved Alisae’s competitive streak and Alphinaud’s tendency to over analyze a situation. She loved watching their rivalry, dissipating their doubts, cheering for their success. The twins were very special to her, and she would do anything in her power to keep them safe, absolutely anything. 

Such dangerous knowledge to have.

“I’ll do whatever you want, just please. Don’t hurt them.” She managed to blubber out. Her throat was so sore and her head was throbbing from the lack of oxygen. She felt so helpless and weak, and who better to show such a display than the new Emperor of Garlemald?

The last time she had cried so mournfully was over the death of Haurchefant. She had been broken for days from it after her seething anger towards those bastards of the church rid this star of their caustic influence. She had nearly succumbed to her own rage as she fought against them, wanting to ensure that not even a smear of blood would be left to send back to their families. They took away a kind and honorable man whom she had the privilege to call her friend. It still hurts to know that she could not save him, that he died to protect her. How dare he?

“Please, Zenos. Please.” She whispered, unable to stop the uncontrollable sobbing.

Never did he think to see her heart laid bare for him to witness. She wept and begged not for her own life but the lives of those who were far beneath them. Why does she put so much stock in those who have no bearing on the fate of this star? They are but shackles to her ever boundless might, chains to keep the beast before him tame enough to sick upon the enemies of the savages. She could be so much more if she did not have the dead weights holding her back. What a terrible, easily exploitable weakness. 

It killed him to know that they breathed the same air that he did, them and all the other unentertaining fodder of this world. His last remaining pleasure this star had to offer him wept for insects, and that knowledge alone planted something terrible inside of him, something hateful. 

He stood up and began to leave, but was caught in her grasp.

“Don’t you dare leave without answering me.” The ice cold anger was back. “Promise me you won’t hurt them, any of them, so long as I am here.”

Zenos regarded her mindfully, unsure of how he wished to respond. She had no power here, and yet she made demands of him. If she were anyone else she would have been dead long ago. 

He pulled free of her grasp which resulted in an infuriated screech from her. “Zenos!”

Just before she was about to make her way to him to give him a piece of her mind, she was shoved back. He forcefully pushed the swirling teal pill between her lips and made her swallow. The Warrior of Light looked up at him with confusion. She looked a mess to him with her puffy red eyes and messy hair. Her eyes darted around, searching for something within his features or his body language to tell her what exactly he was up to.

His head tilted to the side and a brow raised itself with regard. “Keep me entertained long enough, my dearest, and I can promise there won’t be a reason for me to leave.”

**Author's Note:**

> Had an existential crisis idea about how the WoL would feel if they knew no one would remember them. This part of the lore was touched upon at some point in ARR, but I haven't seen it be brought up again.
> 
> Then i had about 5 other fic idea that I just decided to smash together into one thing. Hope it's okay, I will probably be putting more archive warnings as the story progresses.


End file.
